NEW DELHI: Reaffirming India’s long-standing support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday told Rajya Sabha that while countries have the right to respond to terrorism, they must also remain mindful of civilian casualties and humanitarian laws.
Responding to a supplementary during question hour on the reason for India’s abstention from a resolution in the UNGA on Oct 27, 2023, regarding the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations, Jaishankar said the country voted or abstained on resolutions based on several considerations.
“In this particular case, we felt that the resolution was not well-drafted and not well-considered. We had reservations on the language. Our concerns were not accommodated. That is why we abstained,” Jaishankar said.
“In the resolution, there was no reference to terrorism. There was no reference to hostage-taking. A country like India which is itself a victim of terrorism, if we countenance the fact that terrorism is underplayed and ignored, it is not in our interest that we do so.”
On the country’s position in the ongoing conflict, the minister said, “We condemn terrorism, we condemn hostage-taking. We do believe countries have the right to respond to the situation but countries should be mindful of civilian casualties. They must observe humanitarian law and we would like a ceasefire and an early end to violence.”
India has always supported a negotiated two-state solution, with a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine living side by side in peace with Israel. “We have been public and unambiguous about that. There should be no cause for confusion regarding the two-state solution.”
Responding to another question on India’s position on a ban imposed by Israel on UN aid agency UNRWA, Jaishankar said the government has stood by its decision to send humanitarian aid to Palestine and has just released the latest tranche of support to UNRWA.